My Take: Yankees Acquire David Bednar & Jake Bird
Other takes:
Jose Caballero/Camilo Doval (link)
Ryan McMahon (link)
Amed Rosario (link)
Austin Slater (link)
The Details:
The Yankees acquire RHP David Bednar and RHP Jake Bird
The Pirates acquire C/1B Rafael Flores, C Edgleen Perez, and OF Brian Sanchez
The Rockies acquire 2B Roc Riggio and LHP Ben Shields
This isn’t a 3-team deal, as the Pirates and Rockies didn’t interact with each other. Nor should they ever interact with each other.
However, from the Yankees’ standpoint, I will combine the moves due to time and laziness.
What the Yankees get:
While Brian Cashman was likely looking for a right-handed and a left-handed reliever, left-handed relievers aren’t easy to find on the market. So he pivoted to a pair of right-handed options with team control.
I will start with the more significant of the two.
Bednar, the Pirates’ closer over the past four seasons, is in the upper echelon of relievers in baseball, even with his odd 2024 campaign. Off to a Devin Williams-like start (11.70 ERA in March/April), Bednar turned that around in May and June before sustaining an oblique injury. I don’t know if that impacted his August (10.97 ERA), but he bounced back again to post a solid September.
That silliness aside, Bednar has been good for a while. This season, the 30-year-old owns a 2.37 ERA (1.96 FIP) over 38 innings with strong strikeout (33.1%) and walk (6.5%) rates. Additionally, his 41.3% ground ball rate is slightly below the league average. If you know me, you know that right-handed flyball pitchers scare me in Yankee Stadium. Bednar’s ground ball rate is fine, and when you combine it with top-notch strikeout rates, that is a good combination. From his profile, he doesn’t beat himself. The Yankees can use him in the 7th, 8th, or 9th innings with the possibility of being their 2026 closer. I don’t know what the organization thinks of Williams at this point, but I wouldn’t completely write him off as an extension candidate. Same with Luke Weaver.
One thing to watch is Bednar’s splits and how Matt Blake tries to negate those splits. He is vastly better against left-handed hitters (.416 OPS) than right-handed hitters (.776 OPS) this year. His splits are more even throughout his career, so this could be a fluke.
Bednar is still in his arbitration years, earning $5.9 million this year. The Yankees are on the hook for $1.87M of that.
While I label Jake Bird as the “lesser” of the two acquisitions, we shouldn’t mistake that for him being mediocre. The 29-year-old, who is controlled through 2028, doesn’t own Bednar’s eye-popping stats. His career ERA (4.57) and FIP (4.14) don’t stand out, though is 4.73 ERA this year comes with a 3.45 FIP. Additionally, thanks to ballpark adjustments, his career ERA+ is 105.
The most intriguing thing about Bird is the spike in his strikeout rate, which is up to 26.3% in 2025 (19.3% entering this year). Combine that with a strong GB% (48%), and you have an intriguing arm coming out of Colorado. Yes, he is indeed more dominant at home than on the road, which seems to go against the laws of baseball. That may be hard to explain, but it shouldn’t bother you.
One negative is the awful July Bird has experienced. After a strong start, Bird suddenly crashed and burned, compiling a 19.89 ERA and 12.5% strikeout rate. If the Yankees are comfortable that it isn’t injury-related, we can chalk it up to a bump in the road. His BABIP this month is unsustainable (.481).
Bird doesn’t throw as hard as Bednar. He averages 94.2 MPH with his seldom-used 4-seamer (0.7%!), relying more on a sinker/slider/curve combination with a few cutters mixed in. His ability to mix pitches allows him to average more than an inning per appearance, which adds to his value. The Yankees are unlikely to need him to close games, but he can be used as a 6th/7th inning guy alongside Fernando Cruz and/or Mark Leiter Jr. when they come back.
What the Pirates Get:
Rafael Flores should make his debut in 2025. A top ten prospect in the Yankees’ system, he is hitting .279/.351/.475 in 419 plate appearances with 23 doubles, 16 home runs, and 51 runs batted in. He has had a slow start since his promotion to Scranton (.211/.388/.289), but I do not doubt that Flores will hit. Whether he can hit enough to be an MLB first baseman, I don’t know. Whether he is good enough defensively to stick as an MLB catcher, I don’t know. What I do know is this: The Yankees took an undrafted free agent and developed him to the point where his value was good enough to be the top prospect in a deal for an elite relief pitcher. That’s a win.
Edgleen Perez is an interesting teenager who made it to Low-A this season. The first thing that stands out is his ability to take walks. He owns a 17.9% BB that goes with a solid 19.5% K rate. The power has yet to show up in his profile (.236 slugging percentage), but that could be tied back to him being a developing teenage catcher. His advanced hitting approach is tantalizing, and the ceiling as an MLB starting catcher exists. However, that is a long time away, and catchers can be tricky in their development arc.
I talked about Flores going from an undrafted free agent to the top prospect dealt in a significant trade. Brian Sanchez went from being part of a Jake Bauers trade to a deal sweetener. Currently on the injured list, Sanchez is hitting .281/.373/.438 in 286 Low-A plate appearances with four homers and 24 stolen bases. The 21-year-old has plenty of minor league control (he isn’t Rule 5 eligible until after 2027). There are a lot of Sanchez-like players in Low-A. The Yankees have a few of their own. I wouldn’t worry about his development.
What the Rockies Get:
Roc Riggio had a fun name and an interesting profile. He isn’t built like a big-time power threat, yet he hit 18 home runs in 62 games this season, including 11 in 40 games for Somerset. Known for his dead-pull power profile (which probably made you excited to see him in Yankee Stadium), his biggest issue is where he plays. He is anchored to second base, which is fine if he can keep hitting at an above-average rate. In a world where MLB teams value versatility, he loses a few points. However, I can see him as a 30-double, 20-home run (at least) threat in Colorado. Whether that power comes with solid hitting skills elsewhere, we’ll see. But I think he is a good get for the Rockies. A 156 wRC+ in your first 40 Double-A games is nothing to sneeze at. I am a fan.
Like Flores, Ben Shields was an undrafted asset whom they converted into a desirable trade piece. The 26-year-old jumped on the prospect scene last season, compiling a 3.48 ERA (3.23 FIP) over 106 innings between Hudson Valley, Somerset, and Scranton. His one awful appearance in Scranton impacted those solid numbers. This year, thanks to injury, he has appeared in only nine games (35.1 innings). He has MLB potential but was unlikely to make it as a Yankee.
The Bottom Line:
For new readers, you may be starting to get the sense that I am not your typical “prospect-hugging” blogger. To me, prospects have two purposes: Keep them or trade them. Some prospects don’t fit into your long-term plans, but fit in someone else’s. Hence, a trade is born. If you are a Yankees fan, your default setting should be MLB talent over minor league talent, because that is ultimately how they operate. And, despite what you may think of Cashman, the prospects he trades away rarely come back to haunt the team. That doesn’t mean the returns have always worked out. However, the organization appears to have a decent grasp of who to retain and who to trade.
These are two solid moves at reasonable prices, given the team control that comes with Bedner and Bird. The prices they paid are in line with what other teams have been offering for similarly skilled players.
The Yankees haven’t given up a top prospect at the deadline, trading off Rafael Flores, Roc Riggio, Edgleen Perez, Brian Sanchez, Clayton Beeter, Ben Shields, Griffin Herring, Josh Grosz, Gage Ziehl, and Browm Martinez. Interestingly, they used more of their position player depth in these trades, which goes against their typical usage of pitching depth. That comes down to what other teams are desiring. The Pirates reportedly were looking for position players at the deadline, and that is what the Yankees gave them.
This is another solid deadline deal. The Yankees filled their bullpen needs while trading away only one Top 10 prospect.
If you are fretting over the prospects given up, relax. I like Flores. I think Riggio is fun, and Herring is having a fantastic season. However, they didn’t give up any of their significant prospects while improving their roster where it was needed.
That’s a win.